Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars and needless to say, it left everybody
stunned.
Will came on stage soon after Rock made a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, and
delivered the slap heard around the world.
The attack was in response to a joke Rock made about Pinkett-Smith's short-cropped hair,
comparing her to Demi Moore in "G.I.
Jane."
That wasn't the only joke the Smiths weathered that night.
Well before Rock even stepped onstage, Oscars host Regina Hall took a jab at Will and Jada's
open marriage.
Between awards, Hall made an elaborate joke about emergency COVID testing that needed
to be done, conveniently, on a few of the industry's hottest bachelors, including Timothée
Chalamet, Bradley Cooper, and so on.
Hall then zeroed in on the Smiths, quipping to Will, "You're married, but you know what?
You're on the list, and it looks like Jada approved you, so you get on up here!"
While fans are still fuming after Will's attack on Rock, one body language expert has exclusively
decoded Will and Jada's reactions to the jokes made on Oscar night.
Even though Regina Hall made a joke about Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith's marriage,
no one got up on stage and slapped Jada's former "Girls Trip" co-star Hall across the
face.
Jess Ponce III, body language expert, communication coach, and author of the book, "A.W.E.S.O.M.E.:
Seven Keys to Unlock the Speaker Within," sized up the Smiths' reaction to the first
joke.
According to the expert, the Smiths laughed along to Regina Hall's jab while looking "sweetly
embarrassed" and even bashful over it.
Ponce told Nicki Swift in an exclusive interview that the Smiths looked "overly composed" despite
the joke made about their marriage.
Ponce explains,
"With all eyes on her Jada remained visually consistent and purposeful in her response.
She looked straight ahead, smiled, and clapped throughout the audience’s reaction.
At one point she lifted her hand and pointed to the stage as if to say, 'You got me, and
I see you.'"
The reaction made it seem like Pinkett-Smith and Hall were two friends, in on a secret
joke.
However, Ponce said that Jada's body language left her true feelings unclear, making the
expert wonder if she could be hiding something.
Ponce said that after Will stopped playing along with Hall's joke, he put his focus back
on his wife.
He explained,
"There was a tender moment.
He leaned in Jada's direction, as if to affirm his affection for her, and had a little boy
sensibility."
In other words, despite their open arrangement, it looks like Will and Jada still want to
present a unified front in their relationship.
So if Will and Jada kept their composure after the first joke about them, what exactly made
things escalate to the point Will slapped Chris Rock in the face?
While it's definitely possible the two were already a little worn down from being the
butt of the first joke, rumors have also swirled that Will was already upset with Rock before
he made his "G.I.
Jane" quip.
At the 2016 Academy Awards, Rock made a joke at Jada's expense, commenting on her decision
to boycott that year's Oscars over a lack of diverse representation.
"Begging for acknowledgement, or even asking, diminishes dignity."
While hosting that year's proceedings, the comic said,
"Jada says she's not coming.
Protesting.
I'm like, 'Isn't she on a TV show?'
Jada's gonna boycott the Oscars?
Jada boycotting the Oscars is like me boycotting Rihanna's panties.
I wasn't invited."
A source claimed to People magazine in the wake of the slapping incident that Will was
supposedly, quote, "still mad about that."
"Get out."
Regina Hall didn't immediately address the Will Smith controversy – at least not in
public.
Her co-host Amy Schumer, however, did address the shocking incident, alluding to it when
she returned to the Oscars stage.
Alluding to her costumed gag from earlier in the night, Schumer said,
"I've been getting out of the Spider-Man costume...
did I miss anything?
There's, like, a different vibe in here."
Will appeared to be back in good spirits at that point, being seen laughing at the reference
in the audience.
But that wasn't the only time Will's presence was felt at the ceremony.
The third host of the evening, Wanda Sykes, actually dressed up as Smith's Oscar-winning
character, Richard Williams, during the ceremony.
She hilariously pushed a grocery store cart full of tennis balls across the stage as she
rocked sneakers with pulled up socks, white shorts, and a red sweater.
One thing's for sure, the Smiths were all over the 2022 Oscars – for better and for
worse.
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